from Chris
In his memoir Recollections of a Confederate Staff Officer, G. Moxley Sorrel recalled an incident from just before the battle of Fredericksburg that might be of interest to our wine enthusiasts.
Just before the battle, which took place on December 13, 1862, the Federal army occupied the city. Townsfolk knew the Yankees were coming, and some of their preparations resulted in unexpected libations for some of the city’s Confederate defenders. Sorrel recounted a story about “the old …
One of the best advantages to staying at Stevenson Ridge for Civil War buffs is that they can get a chance to see a part of the Spotsylvania battlefield that not many people get to see.
The Union Ninth Corps occupied the ground that is now Stevenson Ridge during the first week of the battle, and the Union Fifth Corps occupied it during the battle’s second week. Additionally, the Union Sixth Corps moved across part of the property. That’s ¾ …
from Chris
We are pleased to announce a few details about next year’s Seventh Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge. We posted some pictures from this year’s event here, and Emerging Civil War posted some additional pictures here, so if you want to see what a good time we had, check them out!
Next year, we’ll hold the Symposium on the first full week of August: August 7-9, 2020.
Our theme will be “Fallen Leaders.”
Our …
from Chris
We had a super successful Sixth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge last weekend. We’ll be announcing details for next year’s Symposium next week, so stayed tuned! In the meantime, here’s a look at some of the fun we had this year:
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We’re gearing up for our big Civil War weekend: the Sixth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge.
The event kicks off Friday afternoon and runs all day Saturday with a line up that includes a keynote address from historian A. Wilson Greene, author of the monumental new book A Campaign of Giants: The Battle for Petersburg. Greene will be talking about Grant’s second assault to take the city, a forgotten action that ties into our theme this …
from Chris
We have some “new” Stevenson Ridge history on display in the Lodge. I say “new” because it’s history, which by definition makes it old–but the displays themselves are new.
The first is a frame containing some images of Brig. Gen. Thomas Greely Stevenson, for whom the property is named. There’s a brief bio accompanying the images so that visitors can learn at least a little bit about him. (More info on Stevenson is available in our book Traces …
A map on a wayside panel in Spotsylvania National Battlefield shows the alignment of the armies during the second half of the battle, prior to their withdrawals from Spotsy.
from Chris
Think of the village of Spotsylvania Court House as sitting at the center of a clock. Brock Road, where the armies first clashed on the morning of May 8, sits at roughly 10 o’clock. The Mule Shoe, scene of the horrific hand-to-hand battle on May 12, sits at roughly …
A historical marker along modern Rt. 208 marks the area where Confederates broke through the Federal supply line on Fredericksburg Road.
from Chris
The main action on Spotsylvania’s eastern front opened on May 9 during the battle of the Ny River. Ten days later, in a fight that brought the battle full circle, the last major action of the battle also happened on the eastern front—or, more accurately, in the rear, rather than the front.
Robert E. Lee, discontent to …
from Chris
At daylight on May 18, Gourverneur K. Warren ordered a cannonade all along his line. Twenty-six guns came to bear in a thundering roar.
The “whole army having moved off to our right to make an assault on the enemy,” he wrote, he opened the artillery bombardment in support of the assault. It was also intended to discourage Confederates from making a counter-attack of their own along his line, which was now stretched thin to cover the works …
From Chris
“We have had five days’ almost constant rain without any prospect yet of its clearing up,” Ulysses S. Grant told Washington on May 16. “The roads have now become so impassable that ambulances with wounded can no long run between here and Fredericksburg. All offensive operations necessarily cease until we can have twenty-four hours of dry weather.”
During the waiting game, the army nonetheless found ways to stay busy. “”[T]he army was employed in constant reconnoitering and skirmishing, …